Sally Lunn's Tea Room, Bath

After our tour of the Roman Baths in the Spa City of Bath, we headed to Sally Lunn's Tea Room, a short distance from the baths, and one of the oldest houses in Bath. It has become a world famous destination to savor the Bath Buns.

Sally Lunn was a Huguenot refugee, from France, who found employment with a baker in 1680. She introduced the baker to a French style brioche type bread that was light and delicious. The breads have been served at Breakfast and Afternoon Teas, and ever since, her name has been associated with these Bath Buns. We were anxious to try them!

We were ushered up to the third floor where there was plenty of seating. By the time we left, there was a long line out the door waiting to enjoy this special treat. The original recipe was rediscovered in the 1930's in a secret cupboard above a corner fireplace. According to the story, the recipe is now passed on along with the deeds of the house.

We sampled lemon curd atop bath buns, and cinnamon butter on bath buns. We had toasted buttered bath buns with tomato soup, and grilled veggies atop a bath bun. We took advantage of this opportunity to sample these rich round specialty buns while we were in this historic timber framed building that now sports a stone façade.

Even Cedar didn't need any coaxing to smile while in this tea room because he ordered a Sally Lunn Bath Bun with ham. (Just ham.)

If you venture down the spiral staircase to the cellar, they have a museum which houses the original oven that was in use up to the late 1890's. It's to be noted that the buns are still made in the house, however they now use a modern bakery on the second floor.

Opposite the old kitchen display, a visual history line was created when the cellar floor was excavated in 1984. They discovered the remains of a Roman building that stood on this site around AD200. After the Romans left, the site was inhabited by Saxons. The Medieval era followed by the Tudor period are also represented in this display. We were walking in history.